Deputy Minority Leader urges strong parliamentary action to make Africa borderless

Patricia Appiagyei, Deputy Minority Leader of Parliament, has called for decisive parliamentary leadership to ensure Africa’s continental integration translates into tangible outcomes for citizens.

She made these comments at the Presidential & Business Leaders’ Dialogue, held on Day Three of the 2026 Africa Prosperity Dialogues (APD). The dialogue, held under the theme “Empowering SMEs, Women & Youth in Africa’s Single Market: Innovate. Collaborate. Trade,” took place at the Accra International Conference Centre (AICC) on Friday, 6th February, 2026.

Representing Minority Leader Osahene Alexander Afenyo Markin, Patricia Appiagyei emphasized the Minority’s strong commitment to the campaign. She praised the Africa Prosperity Network for convening a platform that drives practical action for Africa’s shared prosperity.

“Africa’s challenge today is not the absence of treaties or protocols, but the absence of full and faithful implementation,” she noted.

Touching on the role of national legislatures, Patricia Appiagyei stressed that treaties do not implement themselves.

“Continental commitments acquire legal force only through parliamentary domestication, budgetary approval, and sustained oversight. Africa’s integration project will succeed or fail at the level of national legislatures,” she said.

She underscored the critical importance of the AfCFTA Dispute Settlement Mechanism in fostering investor confidence and ensuring a predictable, enforceable single market.

“Without effective dispute resolution, asymmetries, arbitrary barriers, and uncertainties undermine trade and deter participation by investors, traders, and enterprises,” Appiagyei explained.

She called on member states to align domestic trade laws, administrative systems, and institutional practices with AfCFTA obligations.

Madam Appiagyei also highlighted the long-standing need for a fully operational African Court of Justice, as envisioned in Article 18 of the AU Constitutive Act. She argued that a borderless Africa must also be a law-governed Africa, where continental commitments are enforceable, legal uncertainty is minimized, and investor confidence is strengthened.

She stressed that making Africa borderless does not weaken sovereignty but rather strengthens collective governance by replacing unilateralism with rules, discretion with law, and fragmentation with cooperation.

The campaign’s 12 priority areas, she noted, are already anchored in existing AU treaties and protocols; what is now needed is political will, legislative leadership, and disciplined implementation.

Patricia Appiagyei reaffirmed the solidarity of the Minority leadership in Parliament with the Make Africa Borderless Now campaign.

“Parliamentary oversight, domestication of legal frameworks, a robust AfCFTA dispute resolution regime, and the operationalization of the African Court of Justice are essential for legal certainty, compliance, and investor confidence in Africa’s single market,” she said.

By: Bawa Musah

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